The film is based on the massacre at Gwangju on May 18. It occurred when President Chun Doo-hwan tried to eliminate any rebels by using military force .Min Woo leads a relatively peaceful life with his younger brother Jin Woo – until the day the soldiers go on the rampage against the citizens. The citizens form a militia determined to protect their loved ones, and Min-woo finds himself in the middle of it all.

An ordinary businessman in his forties, JANG Ga-pil returns home one day to find his daughter sexually molested by some schoolboys, including school boxing star KANG Tae-wook. Realizing that he has no background and money to fight back, he plans to stab KANG on the way to school. This fails miserably, but another student named GO Seung-suk agrees to teach Ga-pil to fight – in only 45 days.

Two clowns living in the Chosun Dynasty get arrested for staging a play that satirizes the king. They are dragged to the palace and threatened with execution, but are given a chance to save their lives if they can make the king laugh.